Deep Cover
by MrsRiggs
Summary: Oscar, Rose and Carrie are sent to a boarding school that MI9 believe SKUL are taking children from, to turn them into agents. Taking on the personalities of Rosie Edwards, Oscar Layton and Cornelia Spark, can the three agents survive one whole year at the school? And what happens when their covers start to influence their real personalities? Roscar. Carrie/OC. Slightly slow plot.
1. Chapter 1

When the lift doors slid open, the team knew immediately that this was going to be serious.

The head of MI9, Stark and Frank were all standing in a line, looking at them with almost grave looks on their faces. Frank rarely ever wore any serious expression on his face, so this immediately made Rose start to worry.

She felt a hand brush hers. It was a very light brush, and probably looked almost accidental, but when Rose stole a glance in Oscar's direction, he gave an almost imperceptible nod, lips twitching at the sides. It had been to reassure her, she supposed.

Somewhere, in the back of her mind, she wondered if he'd done the same to Carrie.

"Agents," Frank said, as the three finally exited the lift and walked towards him. He opened his mouth to speak again, but was rudely cut off by Stark.

"We have a mission for you." The man announced, as though it weren't already obvious.

"Yeah, we figured as much." Carrie said, casually. "We don't usually get called down here for a cup of tea and a chat."

Rose's lips twitched, but she held back a giggle. The irritated look on Stark's face, and the amusement on Frank's and the head of MI9's made it very hard to do so, but she managed it.

"A very serious mission, Miss Stewart." The head of MI9 said. "A deep cover mission, in fact. But not just for Agent Cole. It's for all of you."

Rose's eyes widened slightly at the irony of this.

Lately, she'd been thinking about how she was only really good at being a tech agent, or at least, that's what it looked like. She longed to prove that she could be good in the field too. She knew Oscar, Carrie and Frank believed in her, but perhaps it wasn't enough.

"I know it isn't ideal," the head said. "And I apologize. But it is necessary."

"What's going on?" Oscar finally asked. "Where are we going to be going?"

Frank turned to the monitors and switched one on. A picture of a boarding school came up. "You'll all be going here. This is the Eichen Institute."

"Sounds like a mental asylum more than a boarding school." Rose muttered, and Oscar nodded.

"We have reason to believe that SKUL are taking students from Eichen and turning them into SKUL agents, as long as they qualify for the job." Stark said loudly, crossing his arms. Rose assumed he was trying to make himself look important.

"What makes you think it's SKUL?" Carrie asked. "I mean, kids do go missing all the time…"

"Correct, Carrie. That's what we thought it was at first," the head of MI9 explained. "But, a few months ago, a mole began leaking information to us – top secret SKUL information. They also revealed that SKUL has been increasing in numbers, and taking on children from a boarding school. We narrowed it down to Eichen, as most evidence points there."

Frank picked up three folders, handing them to the three agents. "These are your secret identities. You'll need to spend the next few weeks reading up on them – after all, we can't have any of you making mistakes on your history. You can't be found out."

Rose opened the folder, eyes scanning what was written there. _Rosie Edwards,_ she read, _aged 16. Parents were divorced shortly after her birth, and she lived on with her father. Her mother is deceased._ Rose continued reading on, curiosity sparking inside her like wildfire. This character seemed very exciting, she admitted. She closed the file and glanced up at Frank, who smiled encouragingly.

"Off you go then, agents. When we next call you down, it will be to send you to Eichen." Stark said.

The three turned to walk back to the lift.

"Rose," Frank called out. "Can I have a word?"

Slightly alarmed, Rose stopped and turned around, only to find that Oscar had stopped too.

"Privately." Frank added, giving Stark a pointed look.

Rose glanced over at Oscar, who was looking at her questioningly, eyes scanning her face. She gave a little nod, and he frowned, but nodded, placing a gentle hand on her arm for a moment, squeezing, before walking to the lift with Stark, Carrie, and the head of MI9.

"Rose," Frank said, as soon as the doors shut. "I understand that you've been wanting to do more fieldwork."

Rose's eyebrows raised in surprise. "How do you know about that?"

"I'm a very perceptive person. Maybe not as perceptive as you, but I pick up on emotions easily. You think we see you as the tech agent, and nothing else. You're wrong." Frank told her gently. "You're far more important than a mere tech agent. You were trained in all areas of spying, and you passed your tests with flying colors."

She shrugged her shoulders, although a smile was pulling onto her lips. "Yeah, I suppose." She agreed.

"Don't worry, Rosie." Frank said, grinning. "You'll do fine at boarding school."

"Thanks, Frank." Rose replied, quietly. "I appreciate it."

"Anytime. You know you can talk to me whenever you need to, Rose. You'll get your gadgets just before we send you to Eichen, by the way, I forgot to mention that." He smiled. "Off you go."

Rose turned towards the lift and walked towards it, a grin on her face. Her confidence had definitely skyrocketed.

"What happened?" Oscar asked, as soon as Rose stepped out of the storeroom. She was surprised – he was alone. No Carrie, no Stark, no head of MI9.

"Oh, nothing." Rose said nonchalantly.

Oscar gave her a look, the intensity of which sent Rose's heart racing, stomach fluttering with butterflies that she tried desperately to ignore.

She quietly explained what she'd talked about with Frank.

Oscar looked astonished. "Wait, wait. You thought you were _just_ a tech agent?" he asked.

"It felt like that's all everyone saw me as." Rose admitted.

"Rose, you're not _just_ anything. You're Rose Gupta, a genius, one of the best agents around." Oscar murmured, his voice low as he took a step closer. "Don't think we'll ever see you as anything else. Okay?"

Rose's heart was pounding so hard in her chest, she wondered if he could hear it. She nodded.

"Okay." She whispered.


	2. Chapter 2

A week down the line, all three agents had their cover stories memorized and they were ready to go.

Rose Gupta became Rosie Edwards – an outgoing girl with an unquenchable thirst for adventure. Charismatic, loyal, and very charming, Rosie Edwards was a great actress and, in fact, loved causing trouble. Despite her bubbly front, however, she had a huge temper and a very snarky, sassy attitude which would definitely get her into trouble. Wit and cleverness were safely on her side. Rosie's mother had passed away when she was young, although her parents had divorced just a year after she was born. Rosie's father took her. Growing up, Rosie became mischievous, sarcastic and rather mean – eventually, her father decided that boarding school was her best option. Whilst there, Rosie would develop a close bond with Oscar Layton, and the two would be known as the school's troublemakers.

Oscar Cole became Oscar Layton – the son of a very rich politician who had run off to Spain with Oscar's stepmother. His mother was unable to look after him, as she was mentally unstable, so he'd been living with his uncle, Frank Layton – who had thought he'd excel at boarding school. Although friendly, passionate and quite a reasonable person, Oscar Layton also had a tendency to be cold, moody and disinterested in anything. While his uncle thought he was excelling in his exams, in actual fact, Oscar had gotten into the school computer and changed his grades. He was, essentially, a bad boy. He'd constantly be skipping class and causing trouble with his teachers and fellow students. Despite this, however, he would develop a soft spot for Rosie.

Carrie Stewart became Cornelia Spark – the only one out of the three who couldn't stand causing trouble. She was shy, quiet and a little sensitive. She liked making friends, despite her slight shyness, and being around people was one of her favorite things. She'd be in class most of the time, keeping her head down and trying to learn. Her parents were pretty much average – she had a little brother called Cory, and she was sent to boarding school because she wanted to go, and not for any other reason. She vowed to herself that she'd be a better person and a better student at boarding school, despite the fact that she'd never been a bad girl at all.

Rosie and Oscar were meant to click immediately. Cornelia was destined to clash with Rosie, and Oscar would come to her defense, thus making it seem like Cornelia was enemies with the two.

When the three were called down to HQ again, they knew it was time to hash out the final details and get them to the boarding school.

"A new term starts at Eichen today," Frank announced. "We had to make sure that the three of you could go in on the same day without any suspicion arising, and we figured that sending you in with thousands of other students was the best way. Have you all been reading your files?"

Rose and Oscar nodded. Carrie looked distracted.

"Carrie, you did read your file, right?" Frank asked, alarm crossing his features for a moment.

"Of course!" Carrie said, frowning at him. "It's not that. I just…we're going for a whole year, right? What about our actual parents? And the school?"

"Ah, we've sorted that." Frank said. "Rose, your parents think you're off to America, to study free of charge in a big technological university. They're ecstatic, by the way. Oscar's foster parents think he's won a competition and on a long field trip to France, and Carrie's parents think she's traveling for a year with some of the world's best teen athletes."

Rose smiled slightly. These stories were all so believable. But then, she supposed, they had to be.

"Now, Rose, Oscar, I trust you've read up about your two characters becoming friends?" Frank asked, an odd gleam in his eye.

The two nodded.

"Well, I was rather hoping that the two of you could…" Frank paused, as if for effect, and Rose felt an odd twist in her gut. She didn't like the smile on his face. "Well, as Rosie and Oscar are so similar, and he's going to develop a soft spot for her, I think it's in your best interest if your two characters end up in a relationship."

Rose sputtered slightly, heart immediately beginning to race. Carrie's lips twitched up into a smirk, but when Rose glared at her, she quickly tried to look more serious, although her eyes were shining.

Oscar gently squeezed Rose's hand, subtly, and she glanced up at him. He was looking at her for approval.

"Fine." Rose muttered. "If it's in the best interest of the mission, then…"

Frank beamed. "Excellent! It'll make the two of you spending time together seem normal, and then if both of you are missing, there's a good explanation that won't cause suspicion."

"And hey, that means the two of you get to kiss in public!" Carrie said, giggling.

Rose aimed a kick in her direction, intending to miss, which of course, she did. Carrie laughed at her.

"Now, agents, there are three cars waiting just around the corner. You'll have to get changed first, obviously, so you look the part. Rose, you get in the first car. Oscar, you get in the second. Carrie, the third." Frank said. He turned around and when he turned back, he was holding some things in his hands. "Mobile phones. Not only because you'll need to leave your real ones behind, but also because, along with being a phone, there are some gadgets on there. If you go into Settings and into 'Brightness Adjustment', you'll notice a small section titled 'H'. While most would think it changes the hue on the screen, what it actually does when you click it is bring up a hacking system. If you need to hack into anything, use that."

Frank showed them a few other things – a torch that was brighter than most phone torches, a way to get in touch with HQ, a laser cutter, and finally, a way to use the phone as a grenade if things really went downhill. Carrie was given a book that she could use to take pictures and videos that would automatically send back to HQ – Rose was given a laptop that could be disguised as a pillow, that she could use for accessing MI9 files, or SKUL files if she could – and Oscar was given a leather jacket. If he opened and closed the zip on his pocket four times, he'd be sending a distress signal to MI9 and they'd send people to come and get them.

"Well then, team." Frank said. "I'm swapping your pencil communicators with pens – a small change, I know, but it's best if you use something different. Now all you need to do is give in your pencils and phones, get changed, and go. Good luck, you three."

And so it began.


	3. Chapter 3

Eichen Institute was a huge place – it looked like a castle, with actual towers that were used for lessons. Everything had been made with red bricks, apart from the roofs, which were made of black roof tiles. The entrance doors were circular, large, and the color of oak.

A sleek, black car pulled up outside of the boarding school. The crowds of children waiting for someone to show them around all turned around to watch – Cornelia Spark stepped out gracefully, and everyone was staring, open-mouthed. Except for a few select people, who looked disinterested. Oscar Layton and Rosie Edwards were two of those people.

Cornelia said goodbye to the driver as soon as he gave her all her bags, and she swept towards the crowd of people, a calm look on her features. She smiled at a few people, who seemed to swoon. She was soon standing in the middle of the crowd, beside a girl who began talking to her in a low voice. By the time some teachers finally came out to greet the new students, Cornelia and the other girl – Rae – were clearly bonding very well.

"Children," began one lady, in a loud voice that was even more strict than Mrs King's. Everyone fell silent. "Welcome to Eichen Institute. Now, you were all sent here for one of three reasons – one, you're smart enough to excel at a boarding school as good as Eichen. Two, you like novels about people in boarding schools and you decided to come here because you could. Three, your parents sent you here because you're horrible, bad children, and you need to be fixed."

Some people in the crowd cheered and laughed at that. Oscar and Rosie included. Cornelia looked around at the people with a faintly worried and more disgusted look. Rosie met her gaze and folded her arms, narrowing her eyes and raising an eyebrow. Cornelia looked a little scared as she turned away.

"Now then." The lady continued. "I'm Miss Kingston, your headmistress. This is Mr. Pennington, deputy head. Then we have Mrs. Jenner, our other deputy head, and Miss Clayton, our counselor and English teacher."

Miss Kingston herself looked very strict – she was a skinny woman, although she seemed quite tall. Her blonde hair was pulled back into a tight bun, and not a single hair was out of place. From Carrie's – sorry, _Cornelia's_ – place at the front, she could see that the woman had piercing blue eyes, thin lips and pinched cheeks. She was wearing a pink tweed skirt, with a pink tweed jacket over a crisp white blouse – her shoes were black and formal, with a tiny heel on them. She stood up straight, hands clasped in front of her, and her eyebrows furrowed as she looked across the crowd.

Mr. Pennington seemed a lot nicer. He had spiky brown hair that seemed to be rather a mess, and his lips were curved upwards in a charming smile. He was very handsome, Cornelia couldn't help but notice. His eyes were dark brown and he was very muscular. He wore a grey, short sleeved t-shirt and black jeans, with black and white converse sneakers. He had a leather jacket thrown over the top of that. He looked very young, and his features were seemingly perfect – Cornelia assumed this made him very popular with the girl students. Maybe even the boys too.

Next was Mrs. Jenner. She had long, black hair that hung over her shoulders. Weirdly enough, there didn't seem to be a single messy hair on her head, not even as a small breeze rustled through the air. She wore a yellow dress with a skinny black belt around the middle, and black heels, with a simple black cardigan on top. She had tanned skin and was rather plump, but it didn't seem to matter that much. She had a very calm expression on her face – she wasn't too laid back, like Mr. Pennington, nor was she too strict, like Miss Kingston. She seemed to be the most neutral person of all.

Finally came the counselor – Miss Clayton. She had curly red hair that cascaded down her back, and a few freckles across her face. She was very pale and very curvy, Cornelia noted, which probably made her the most popular teacher with boys – she could tell, because a lot of boys were staring at her. She wore a short black skirt that ended just above the knee, and a long-sleeved blue sweater. She was wearing black tights, and blue trainers. She was obviously wearing makeup, too – not too much, but enough to be visible from this distance.

"Eichen house is divided into four houses," Miss Kingston began, making Cornelia look over at her. "And yes, it is rather like Hogwarts, but anyone who decides to point this out shall be sent back home." Clearly, she'd heard it too many times. "The four houses are as follows – scintilla, halcyon, zephyr and petrichor. If you don't know the meaning of those words, you may look them up at a later time. You are placed in a house based on your answers to a questionnaire you were given a few days prior to your arrival. Scintilla – for the quiet and good. Halcyon, for the eager and peaceful. Zephyr, for the clever and ambitious. And petrichor, for the curious and the witty."

Rosie was already going over the meanings of the words in her head. Scintilla, a tiny spark; halcyon, denoting a period of time in the past that was idyllically happy and peaceful; zephyr, a very slight or gentle breeze; and petrichor, the smell of earth after rain."

"I trust you all know what house you are in. It will tell you in the paperwork you've been given." Miss Kingston said. "I will be showing the scintillas to their home. Mr. Pennington, the halcyons. Mrs. Jenner, the zephyrs, and Miss Clayton, the petrichors. We will run over the school rules then, but for now, please go and stand in front of your house leader. We'll be taking the register now and, if you do not know what house you are in, stay where you are and listen out for your name."

Immediately, the crowds started scattering. Rosie, Oscar and Cornelia immediately went diving for their paperwork.

Rosie slid over to the petrichors, while Cornelia went over to the scintillas. She couldn't help but smile at the irony – her last name was Spark, after all.

Rosie's eyes scanned the crowd for any sign of Oscar – she'd seen Cornelia slipping away, but not him. She inwardly began to panic – where was he? She couldn't see him in the small crowd of people who didn't know their house, but she couldn't see him anywhere else, either.

Suddenly, someone collided with her and, caught off guard, Rosie stumbled, almost losing her balance. Strong arms slid around her, catching her. Everyone fell silent, eyes moving over to watch as Rosie's eyes moved up towards her capturer. Immediately, she felt herself inwardly relaxing, as her eyes met Oscar's.

"Sorry about that." He muttered, in a non-caring tone, although his eyes were roaming over her with a faint curiosity.

"Whatever. Try to watch where you're going next time." Rosie replied, eyebrows arching. She couldn't help letting her own eyes take him in, however – he looked good in his leather jacket.

"Hey, I said I was sorry." Oscar said, helping her straighten up before letting her go. His fingers brushed her waist lightly as his hands slid away from her, and she knew that was Oscar's way of providing some sort of comfort. "These are the petrichors, right?"

"Yes." Rosie replied, with a nod, as everyone got into line, finally beginning to chatter again, although some people were still looking at them. After casting him a sideways glance, she let out a small sigh. "Sorry I snapped." She muttered, as though it were the hardest thing in the world for her to say.

"Whatever. Not important." Oscar shrugged, folding his arms.

"I'm Rosie. Rosie Edwards." She introduced herself.

There was a small pause. Then, "Oscar Layton." He replied.

They stopped talking when Miss Clayton began calling out the register. When it came to Rosie's name, she put her hand up casually, smiling rather calmly when eyes swivelled to look at her again.

So far, so good.


	4. Chapter 4

Cornelia and Rae both turned out to be in Scintilla, which they were both relieved about, because that way, they knew someone in amongst all the strange faces.

"Did you see what happened earlier?" Rae asked, when the grand tour was finally over. The two were sharing a room with two boys, because apparently, Eichen Institute didn't believe in only sharing with the same gender. The two boys were Nathan and Lucas, and they seemed nice enough when Cornelia and Rae were talking to them earlier.

"No, what happened earlier?" Cornelia asked, blinking.

"Two people in Petrichor had this really intense moment. There was so much UST between them." Rae said, leaning back on her bed.

Cornelia raised an eyebrow. "UST?" she asked, wondering what on earth that was and then, wondering if she actually wanted to know."

"Unresolved sexual tension." Rae replied.

Cornelia, realizing that it had, indeed, been Rosie and Oscar that Rae was talking about, grinned. "Oh, right. Yeah, I've seen that around before."

"I bet they end up together. I bet you any money." Rae said.

"They're not even in our house. What does it matter?" Cornelia asked. She knew her character was supposed to be shy and quiet, but Rae had been the same at first, and now the two were rather close, even if they'd only met an hour or so ago.

"It's fun to watch love stories in development." Rae shrugged.

"You don't even know their names." Cornelia laughed.

"I'm going to find out, though." She said. "Just you wait, Cornelia. They'll fall in love and get married and have lots of children."

"They can only be about 16 or 17." Cornelia sighed dramatically.

"I mean when they're older, silly. They'll fall in love now and spend the rest of their lives together." Rae said dreamily.

"You're into cliché stories, huh?" Cornelia chuckled.

"Of course." Rae winked.

They spent the next while getting to know each other. After a while, though, Nathan and Lucas appeared while Rae and Cornelia were deep in conversation about romance movies.

"Sorry to interrupt this terrible conversation," Lucas began, eyes glittering with good humor.

"But it's lunchtime." Nathan added.

Cornelia and Rae both got up, and followed the two boys down to lunch.

The canteen was relatively reserved. There were lots of people talking, sure, but there weren't any arguments, and people weren't shoving and clamoring to get food, which Carrie – Cornelia – wasn't used to. There were tons of tables, too, and she was certain nobody would have to fight to get a seat, which was a plus.

From the corner of her eye, she noticed something.

Rosie and Oscar were walking away from the counter where all the food was, trays in their hands – they were laughing, chatting away, walking to a spare table. Rosie glanced over at Cornelia, who saw the mischievous glimmer in her eyes. She could only frown, as that was in her character, but her inner Carrie was wondering what Rose had done.

Soon enough, she realized.

A loud scream came from the food counter, and everyone looked over. There, crawling across a student's tray, was a huge tarantula. The girl who was holding the tray had gone white, and she screamed again as the spider crawled onto her hands. Teachers came running.

Cornelia had to fight the urge to laugh, reminding herself that she was playing a girl who couldn't stand pranks or mischief. She looked over towards Oscar and Rosie – they were both laughing.

When Mr. Pennington finally took away the spider, Cornelia realized this would be the perfect time to set the whole 'enemies' situation with Rosie and Oscar.

"That was them." Cornelia whispered to Rae, pointing at the two, who were whispering and smiling. "They did it."

"I know." Rae sighed.

Cornelia straightened up and marched over there, ignoring Nathan's call of her name as she stopped in front of Rosie and Oscar, although her eyes were trained on Rosie. "What's your problem?" she asked, putting on a brave tone even though she was sure her eyes were full of doubt. Cornelia hated confrontations.

"Excuse me?" Rosie asked, turning to look at her, while Oscar made himself look confused.

"Why did you do that? There was no need." Cornelia said evenly.

Rosie's eyes narrowed and she took a step forward, her tone surprisingly deadly when she spoke up again. "You have no proof it was me." She said, her voice quiet. The entire canteen was silent, so her voice was easily heard.

"Oh yes I do." Cornelia replied bravely, but faltered. What proof did she have, really?

Rosie, noticing this, smirked. "Oh yeah?"

Cornelia sighed. "I don't need actual proof. We all know it was you."

"Gonna go running to the teachers, are you?" Rosie asked.

"If I have to." Cornelia glared. Why was Carrie feeling so angry?

"Back off." Oscar suddenly said, his voice angry. "You don't know what you're dealing with."

"Was that a threat?" Cornelia asked, her tone wavering.

"You don't want to find out." Oscar glared.

"Hey, man. Back off." Nathan said suddenly, appearing beside Carrie and reaching forward to shove Oscar.

But Rose was quicker. She grabbed Nathan's arm and pulled him towards her slightly. He looked surprised, and, using his distraction and surprise as leverage, she shoved him, hard. He stumbled back, clearly surprised at her strength, and fell back onto a table, people's lunches smearing onto his back as he did.

For a moment, it was silent. Then, the entire place burst into laughter.

Cornelia watched in horror as people got up, jeering and laughing at Nathan as he straightened up. Someone even took it upon themselves to throw their food in his direction.

Her inner Carrie was fuming. Cornelia turned towards Rosie, who had a neutral expression on her face, although her eyes were slightly widened.

"Bitch." Cornelia hissed, and everyone froze, even Rosie herself.

Then Cornelia did something that nobody expected.

She slapped Rosie straight across the face.

Rosie's head turned sideways, and Oscar looked astonished. For a moment, Rose – _Rosie_ – didn't move. Then, she looked back at Carrie – Cornelia, eyes cold.

And she slapped her back, harder.

Cornelia stumbled slightly – and Nathan steadied her, while Rae and Lucas came over to check if she was okay. Neither of them looked at Rosie, however. Nathan was livid, eyes full of anger as he stared at Rosie.

"You'll regret that." He promised.

Oscar shot forward, hands burying into the front of Nathan's shirt. He slammed him back against a nearby pillar, and everyone gasped. A few jeers echoed through the air.

"Threaten her once more." Oscar said. "I dare you."

Nathan opened his mouth, but Carrie – Cornelia – desperately tried to catch his eye, and when she did, she shook her head, hand holding her cheek as it finally began to sting.

Nathan's head lowered. Oscar let him go and turned, walking over to Rosie. When he looked in Cornelia's direction, her inner Carrie was shocked.

His eyes were burning with anger, eyes narrowed, eyebrows furrowed, entire face curling up into something of a scowl. That was a bit much, even for his character. Cornelia desperately tried to find a sign on their faces, a sign that they understood that it was all to do with her cover.

But Cornelia wouldn't have hit Rosie, because she would've known that Rosie would hit back ten times harder.

She didn't even know why she'd hit her in the first place. The odd surge of anger had, seemingly, come from nowhere.

Oscar's arm wrapped around Rosie's waist and he steered her out of the room. People began jeering at Nathan and Cornelia, pointing at them and tossing food and laughing.

They fled from the other exit.


	5. Chapter 5

Rose and Oscar had been lucky – all the other rooms were full, so instead of having another two people in their room, it was just the two of them as roommates, which allowed them to discuss the mission and such.

They weren't talking now, however.

Rose was sitting at the windowsill, legs pulled up to her chin, and Oscar was pacing. After everything that happened down in the canteen, hours ago, neither of them had said anything to each other.

Finally, Oscar spoke up.

"Are you okay?" he asked.

Rose glanced over to see that he'd stopped pacing, and now he was walking towards her, worry written clearly across his features. He reached out, placing a hand on her arm, his bad boy act completely vanishing and leaving him looking rather vulnerable.

But, then again, she looked the most vulnerable of all.

When Carrie – or rather, Cornelia – had slapped her, Rose had gone into shock slightly. Even if they were supposed to be in deep cover, that was a little much. She hadn't really meant to shove that boy, Nathan, as hard as she had, but she'd felt an odd protectiveness over Oscar the minute she realized Nathan intended to start a fight with him. She'd done what she had on instinct, and then people started laughing.

But Carrie had gotten oddly protective, and despite how guilty Rose felt on the inside, she couldn't let it show on the outside. So she'd put on a stoic expression, hoping that Carrie would understand.

Clearly, she hadn't.

"I'm sorry, Oscar." Rose said, quietly. "What happened down there was my fault."

"Don't beat yourself up." He replied, immediately. "You did what Rosie Edwards would've done, and that's all there is to it."

She'd let him read the file Frank had made for Rosie. Oscar said she had her down perfect. Rose had read Oscar Layton's file, too.

They were both the perfect people for those characters. But neither were sure whether that was good or bad.

"Carrie shouldn't have hit you." Oscar sighed.

"Cornelia." Rose corrected.

"Whatever." Oscar frowned, and his fingers came up to graze her cheek, which was still tinged pink from where Carrie had slapped her. Rose had definitely slapped her harder, so Oscar found himself wondering if Carrie – Cornelia – had an actual hand mark on her face now. "Don't feel bad for slapping her back. It's a natural instinct – I felt like punching that Nathan kid when I realized he was threatening you."

Rose paused, trying to calm the sudden racing of her heart at the memory of how protective Oscar had been over her. _That's because you're best friends,_ she told herself firmly. "So, what? We just keep acting the way we did today?" she asked.

"It's our only choice." Oscar paused suddenly. They'd learned, earlier, that the curfew was at 8:00 PM, and nobody was allowed out past then. It was 8:30 now, and most of the lights had gone out a while back, mainly because the first day had been full of drama, and they hadn't even started lessons yet. They'd also learned that there was a fire escape near their dorm. If they climbed out of their window and onto the roof below, and kept walking across it for a while, they'd be able to get onto the fire escape. _And sneak around inside for a bit,_ Oscar thought. "C'mon." he said.

"Where?" Rose asked.

"You'll see." He gently nudged her out of the way and, as soon as she'd moved, Oscar leaned on the windowsill and fiddled with the window latch. Once it was open, he peered down. It was easy to jump down to the roof below – it wasn't far enough for either of them to hurt themselves, especially with their training.

He held his hand out to Rose as he stood on the windowsill. She stepped up beside him, her hand sliding into his.

"Three," Oscar whispered, gesturing below with his free hand. Rose smiled slightly.

"Two," she whispered, and Oscar relaxed, knowing that was her way of saying she agreed.

"One."

As soon as the word left Oscar's lips, the two jumped, feet hitting the roof below them with surprising quietness. His hand still clasped in hers, Oscar straightened up. He glanced over at her, checking her over for any sign of her being hurt. There was nothing.

Giving a cheeky smile, Rose led the way, obviously twigging where they were going, as he'd pointed out the fire escape to her earlier. When they finally got there, they noticed a small gap between the roof, and the black railing that led onto a small platform, which then had stairs leading upwards to the emergency exit.

Oscar climbed across first, then helped Rose over. Hand grasping hers again, he gave her fingers a gentle squeeze before leading the way up the stairs, both of them being as quiet as possible. When they got to the fire exit, Oscar checked to make sure no teachers were watching before he pushed it open, letting Rose slip inside before following her.

They were in a corridor that looked fairly normal. It twisted around and led back into the school, they assumed, but it wasn't the corridor that interested them. It was the large door at the sidelines. It said 'KEEP OUT' in big red letters, and under the door, a long line of dust was visible. Exchanging a look, the two walked forward and managed to get the door open, stepping inside and letting the door close quietly behind them.

They came out into a dark corridor that they definitely hadn't been shown on the tour. Rose's grip on Oscar's hand tightened, and he pulled her slightly closer, gently squeezing her fingers once again. She relaxed a little, fumbling around with her phone. She switched on the upgraded torch feature, which immediately lit up the corridor.

Loose wires were scattered everywhere, along with scuff marks and things that indicated some sort of struggle. Dust caked the walls and floors and cobwebs hung low from the ceiling. Little spiders scuttled away under the loose floorboards as the light shone over them. The corridor wasn't that big – it went on a little while then stopped. There was a door at the end, and two doors in the middle of the corridor, one on each side.

Reluctantly letting go of Oscar's hand, Rose went for the right door while Oscar went for the left. When they opened the doors, they realized they were just storage rooms. But as Oscar turned his torchlight on and Rose looked closer, both realized that they weren't ordinary storage rooms.

They were stacked up high with technology that schools definitely shouldn't have. There were items in there that only MI9 should have in their possession. Weapons, advanced computers, failed prototypes for inventions that could have changed the world if they had created them right.

"Oscar," Rose breathed, her voice seeming to echo around the corridor.

"I know." He whispered. "This is bad."

"If only we had Carrie's book to take pictures of this…" Rose cursed quietly under her breath, and in any other situation, Oscar would've been amused.

"We don't need the book. Take pictures on your phone while I shine the light. Then we can hook up the phone to your laptop later, and send them that way." Oscar told her.

"Good idea." Rose nodded. Although she felt bad about leaving Carrie out of the action, she couldn't help but wonder if the girl would've come even if invited – after all, she seemed angry back in the canteen.

Shaking herself out of her thoughts, she switched off the torch and Oscar shined his into the room. She took several pictures of both rooms, and they were about to check out the room down the corridor when, suddenly, a voice floated in from outside.

Panicking, Rose dragged Oscar into the open storage room and closed the door behind them. Oscar turned off his phone and the light went out, leaving them in complete darkness. Not even a light under the door.

The room wasn't exactly small, but it was so full of other things, that there wasn't much space for the two of them to move. Oscar was pushed up against the wall, and Rose was pressed up against him, not exactly by choice, although she wasn't complaining. The voices got closer and closer, and Rose tensed. Oscar's arms slid around her protectively, and she relaxed ever so slightly, although she definitely had to keep herself on alert.

"We have thousands of new students here." Miss Kingston was saying. "I assume you disposed of the ones who found out of our plan last term?"

There was silence, but whoever she was talking to must have said something, or done something, because she was replying again in a heartbeat.

"Good. I'm surprised nobody questions why people are only ever here for one year. One term." She chuckled. "There are lots of students that have potential. The spider scandal was one terrible prank to pull, which means whoever did it definitely doesn't care about being mean to others."

Another long pause. Rose hardly dared to breathe. She couldn't help but notice the slight weight of Oscar's hands on her waist, and the electrifying feeling it sent through her, despite the urgency of the situation. Her hands were resting on his chest, and because she was so still, she could feel his heartbeat under her fingertips.

His heart was racing. Was he scared? Most likely. In the darkness of the room, she could only make out his outline. He was looking down at her, but she couldn't see him properly.

If she could, she'd see the worry in his eyes. But of course, even then she wouldn't realize that he wasn't worried about them getting caught, not really. He was just worried about her.

And the racing of his heart?

He wasn't scared.

He'd just never been so close to Rose before. The feeling of her hands on his chest was almost euphoric, but the situation at hand was distracting him from that.

"Well, sir, if that's what you want, then I can only oblige. We will not fail you." Miss Kingston said. There was a low beep, signifying that she'd hung up a phone. She sighed. "I'll show him." She muttered. "We'll be paid handsomely for this contribution, and then he'll realize how completely wrong he was. Eichen Institute is not pathetic. Mandy Kingston will not be bested."

With that, she walked away. Rose listened out for the closing of the door leading into the corridor, and when she heard it, she breathed a sigh of relief. Oscar fumbled for the phone and turned on the torchlight.

Immediately, Rose blushed. She was still pressed up against him, hands resting on his chest, but their faces were inches apart. If she had shifted her face forward at all in the dark, she would have kissed him.

For a moment, Rose could've sworn Oscar's gaze flickered down to her lips, but it was so quick that she figured she must have imagined it. Clearing her throat, she stepped away from him and opened the door, peering out. The coast was clear.

They ran back to the fire escape and climbed back into their dorms far quicker than they had come out. Closing the window, Oscar turned to collapse onto his bed, while Rose quickly sent the pictures to MI9.

"You'll need to send this, too." Oscar said, handing his phone over to Rose.

"What?" Rose asked, blinking.

"Audio file. I was recording her side of the conversation. It's audible, right?" he checked, propping himself up on one elbow and watching her.

Rose played the audio file. "It's not perfect, but it's enough. I can edit out the background noise and leave in her voice, which will help." She set to work, but paused, looking up at Oscar with a grin. "You're brilliant, Oscar Cole."

"Layton." He corrected her playfully. "And I'm not quite as brilliant as you."

They'd both be terrible liars if they said they didn't see the other person's blush.


End file.
